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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29696076">Not So Fast Friends</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ughineedcoffee/pseuds/ughineedcoffee'>ughineedcoffee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Runt of the Litter [31]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fall Out Boy References, Family, Friendship, Gen, Jody being everyone's mom, Parental Dean Winchester, Parental Sam Winchester, Winchester Sister, little sister - Freeform, paramore references</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:40:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,120</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29696076</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ughineedcoffee/pseuds/ughineedcoffee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jody's concerned about how Claire's been acting recently, so the Winchesters head to Sioux Falls for a few days to see if they can help. Basically the start of Anna and Claire becoming friends. Anna is sixteen and Claire is eighteen</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Runt of the Litter [31]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112966</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Not So Fast Friends</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Okay, look, guys, I get that I said I wasn't posting again until Saturday, but it occurred to me that I haven't actually caught up on posting what's already been posted on Wattpad. So, there'll be a couple of extras like this kinda just appearing as I have time to put them up. But I will still be mostly posting on Saturdays now.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, kudos-ing?, and commenting! I swear you're all way nicer than I deserve. Enjoy the extra story!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Anna balanced a pretzel on her nose, one OSIRIS high top on the table in the library as she slowly tipped her chair back to balance on two legs. "<em>You're appealing to emotions that I simply do not have,</em>" she sang along to the Fall Out Boy song playing from her phone on the table. "<em>I've got the red carpet blues, baby.</em>" She dropped her chair forward again and just managed to catch the pretzel as it fell off her face, then reached forward to turn the volume up. "<em>So put your hands in the air and don't make a-</em>"</p>
<p>She was interrupted from her personal rock concert by the sound of Dean's phone ringing on one of the other tables in the library. Reluctantly, she turned the music down and moved toward it since she didn't hear any footsteps to indicate that either one of her brothers were on the way. "Let's see who Dean slept with <em>last</em> week," Anna said sardonically to herself while lifting the phone off the table. "Oh."</p>
<p>Accepting the call, she greeted, "Hey, Jody."</p>
<p>"<em>Dean's not there?</em>"</p>
<p>Anna raised both eyebrows and laughed shortly. "Gee, thanks, Jody. It's good to hear your voice too."</p>
<p>There was a smile in the sheriff's voice when she answered. "<em>I'm sorry, kiddo. It's great to hear from you. But I did call your brother. He's not around?</em>"</p>
<p>"I dunno. It's like four, right?"</p>
<p>"<em>Six</em>."</p>
<p>"Oh, then he's probably cooking. One second." Pulling the phone down and holding the speaker against her stomach so Jody's eardrums wouldn't be blown, Anna hollered as casually as possible, "DEAN!" There was an audible crash in the kitchen, which was literally about six feet and a doorway away from her, and Anna winced. "Yeah, maybe that was a little loud," she muttered to herself.</p>
<p>"Anna!" Dean shouted angrily without coming to the room. Her tone had implied that there was no danger to speak of, just that she wanted something and didn't want to move, so Dean probably didn't have any big brother alarms going off and instead was just pissed that she'd startled him.</p>
<p>Anna sighed in resignation and walked into the kitchen to bring the phone to him. Smiling sweetly as she walked in to see him wiping some sort of sauce off the front of his t-shirt. She smirked a little, but also felt a little guilty. It passed quickly. "Jody," she informed her brother, holding his phone out to him.</p>
<p>"And it would have been so hard to walk ten steps and then tell me that instead of yelling?" Dean said harshly and snatched his phone out of her hand. He gave her a glare of irritation before turning around to answer Jody and check whatever was on the stove. Out of curiosity, Anna leaned over his arm to try to see what it was. One pan was covered with a lid that had fogged up too much for her to see what was in it, which meant he was boiling something. The other pan on the stove was filled with red sauce. Boiling water and red sauce meant spaghetti or some other kind of pasta dish. Anna grinned at the sight and went to get a root beer from the refrigerator.</p>
<p>"Sure," she heard her brother say into the phone as she headed toward the library again. "Rugrat." Anna paused and looked back at him inquiringly. "Send Sam in here?"</p>
<p>Anna rolled her eyes at the request since Dean had literally <em>just</em> <em>barely</em> scolded her for being too lazy to bring the phone a few feet and now was refusing to walk to Sam's room where he'd been hiding out all afternoon reading. She also couldn't help but wonder even after she retrieved Sam for their brother, why Jody wanted to talk to both of her brothers but not Anna too. It would have been hurtful if she didn't know Jody too well to think she was <em>intentionally</em> shunning the youngest Winchester.</p>
<p>"Where was I?" she mumbled to herself as she settled back into her chair and picked up another pretzel. The song had changed but she reached forward to turn it up, then tilted her chair back again, balanced her pretzel on her nose again, waited for the chorus, and began singing, "<em>They say quitters never win. We walk the plank on a sinking ship. There's a world outside of my front door...</em>"</p>
<p>()()()</p>
<p>Sam and Dean spent about five minutes bickering over the absence of a vegetable in their dinner-- <em>There's tomatoes in the sauce, Sammy.</em> While they were distracted, Anna tried for the closest beer, but Dean put his hand on the bottle the second she moved her hand toward it, as if he could tell what she was after by some weird sixth sense. Honestly, knowing Dean, that wasn't altogether implausible.</p>
<p>"Two years," he reminded her, turning away from his bickering with Sam. At least she'd accomplished something in that she'd ended their dumb argument. Vegetables? Could there possibly be a worse point of debate?</p>
<p>"Five years," Sam corrected, giving Dean a sharp look.</p>
<p>Anna rolled her eyes blatantly and grumbled, "Sure can't wait until <em>that</em> debate starts up." Her eighteenth birthday would be a turning point for sure. Naively, though, Anna felt pretty sure that they wouldn't really be able to stop her once she was legally an adult, even if that logic was flawed because the <em>law</em> prohibited drinking under the age of 21. "What did Jody want?" she asked after a couple minutes of quiet eating.</p>
<p>After a little while passed with no answer, Anna looked up from her plate and observed the looks Sam and Dean were exchanging. She paused, feeling hesitant. "Did I overstep or something? I get it, ya know, there's shit Kate and I talk about that stays strictly within people of our age group-" She cut her own babbling off, suddenly afraid she was about to give something away that there would be no coming back from.</p>
<p>They didn't seem to notice, though, that she'd just admitted there were secrets she kept from them. Maybe they'd already been aware. They weren't as ancient as Kate's parents, after all. Surely these boys remembered being teenagers.</p>
<p>"No," Sam answered before long. "It's just, uh... We actually were hoping to run something by you."</p>
<p>Anna kept looking at him, thinking he would take the hint. He didn't. "Okaay," she prompted, turning her fork in circles as a gesture that he should continue. When she caught the look Sam was giving Dean, she turned to their older brother, assuming he was about to field this one. She wondered if she'd done something wrong? But this was about Jody somehow, right? "I'm all ears," she said shortly, getting impatient.</p>
<p>Dean gave her a look but grabbed his beer and set his fork down. "Look, Jody called 'cause she says Claire has been a little... off lately."</p>
<p>Anna frowned, "Off... what does that mean?"</p>
<p>"She's been sneakin' out a lot, lying, mouthin' off, teenager stuff."</p>
<p>Anna tilted her head sideways, raised one eyebrow, and gave Dean the bitchface of a lifetime. "She's been hunting?" she asked once her annoyance had mostly worn off.</p>
<p>"Trying to. How'd you-?"</p>
<p>"That's Claire," Anna answered before he had time to finish his question. "Where do I come into this?"</p>
<p>Sam shifted in his seat and Anna looked over at him. "Well, that's more complicated. See, Jody said Alex just got this new job, and she's spending a lot less time around the house and she thinks that might be why Claire is suddenly so... unruly."</p>
<p>"What, like she's <em>lonely</em>?" <em>Join the club, Claire</em>, she thought to herself. Sam and Dean ditched her alone at the bunker for hunts all the time. She didn't have Jody to see every night. She didn't have the option of extracurriculars and stuff after school because her ride home required that she take the bus to a stop at the edge of Lebanon and then walk for about fifteen minutes. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best way to keep their home securely unnoticed. And in a year or so, she could get her license and start driving. Claire had it pretty good.</p>
<p>"That's the consensus," Sam said, then looked at Anna like he was waiting for a response.</p>
<p>Anna was confused for a minute. She still didn't see how this led back around to her. Claire might be feeling unhappy because she didn't get to see Alex as much as she once did, but since when did Claire and Alex spend all their time together anyway? And how was <em>Anna</em> supposed to fix that problem? Unless they were about to tell her that <em>they</em> were going to go help out and leave Anna on her own again, which would be totally lame. They were both quiet, though. "I'm sorry. Did I miss a clue somewhere?" she questioned dryly. "I don't see how this is all connecting here."</p>
<p>Dean looked rather unimpressed at her attitude and set his beer down with a little more force than necessary. He didn't look angry, though, so Anna figured she hadn't hit her limit of teenage sarcasm for the night yet. "Look, Jody called because she thought we could either tell her how to handle an unruly teenager or we could lend her one for the weekend so Claire could, I don't know, make new friends?"</p>
<p>Anna stared between the two of them for a minute before finally speaking. Her voice was dripping with cynicism when she said, "So, what? We're gonna go shopping, get our nails done, and then part ways and be modern day pen pals? Send streaks on Snapchat and pretend we don't know each other through some of her shittiest experiences?"</p>
<p>Dean opened his mouth as if to say something, apparently came up with nothing, and took a swig of his beer instead. That left Sam to give her an answer, but Anna had to admit that her question didn't exactly lend itself to an easy reply.</p>
<p>"It was just an idea," Sam said and raised his hands in surrender when Anna turned the same accusatory stare on him as she'd pinned Dean with a minute ago.</p>
<p>With a sigh, Anna shook her head once and revised her answer. "That's not even really the problem here. You're forgetting that Claire doesn't like me and I don't really like her. I don't see a friendship blossoming in the near future."</p>
<p>"Maybe if you guys talked for a while, that would change?" Sam tried, but it was pretty clear he was grasping at straws.</p>
<p>Anna took pity on him. "Sure. Fine. Whatever," she said and went back to her food in silence.</p>
<p>"It's not like you have nothing in common. I mean, you're both--"</p>
<p>"What, Dean?" Anna challenged, annoyed at how hard they were trying even though she'd already agreed to help out. "Teenagers? Orphans? Hunters? None of that means much for striking up friendship. And if she really misses Alex, then me jumping in and trying to be buddy-buddy with her is probably just gonna be annoying. But if you think it'll help, I'll try."</p>
<p>"Good to know you're going in with such a winning attitude, kid."</p>
<p>"Oh I'm sorry," Anna said sarcastically and put on a very fake grin. "Is that better?"</p>
<p>"Much," Dean answered sourly and took a swig of beer.</p>
<p>It all felt very normal, the way they could dissolve actual disagreements by returning to sibling banter. But Anna hated everything about the trip they would make to Jody's tomorrow. Not only was it a six hour car ride instead of a Saturday hanging out at the café in Lebanon with Kate and a couple other kids she knew through Kate. But anytime Anna was asked to do something explicitly because of her age or her understanding of being a teenager, orphan, or anything of the like, she automatically came to hold some level of disdain for that chore. Anything like that served as a reminder of how far she was from being an equal to Sam or Dean.</p>
<p>They were the dynamic duo, known across the country for their impressive hunting skills. Anna was their kid sister. It could be infuriating sometimes, knowing where she stood in comparison to them.</p>
<p>Getting to know Claire might not be such a bad thing. They did have quite a lot in common, actually, from their dead parents to their struggles for independence as hunters. But Claire could be so hard to reach, and Anna didn't think she had the energy for that.</p>
<p>"What time do we leave tomorrow?" she asked, hoping against hope that she could at least sleep in.</p>
<p>She'd been up all last night working on a history paper that she still wasn't sure why she cared so much about. She had this unexplainable drive to do <em>well</em> in school even though she was only in it because she had no choice. She even took AP classes because Sam was so adamant that she challenged herself so she didn't get bored with it and end up doing like Dean did in high school.</p>
<p>As much as he liked to pretend he was stupid, Dean was far from that. As a high school student, he'd been bored with classes he deemed both useless and unchallenging which had led to a lot of ditching, trouble making, and making out in janitors' closets. All across the good ol' U.S. of A.</p>
<p>Dean shrugged and then answered her with food in his mouth, a mouthful of half-eaten spaghetti grotesquely visible as he spoke. "Early. Maybe six or seven."</p>
<p>Anna pursed her lips but didn't say anything because she didn't want a lecture about how Dad had been with them when they were younger. She didn't see what difference it made, though, whether they left early or not. They would get to Sioux Falls only a couple hours later if they left at nine. Then she could sleep at least a little more tonight.</p>
<p>"You got a problem with that?" Dean asked, clearly having caught her look of frustration. To her surprise, he didn't sound pissed off.</p>
<p>She still shook her head, having no desire to get into an argument or even conversation right now. It was one of those nights where she could feel herself starting to get angry over nothing and knew it would be unfair for her to take it out on her family. She preferred to hide it and sneak away to her room to listen to loud music with her headphones on until the... whatever it was passed.</p>
<p>"Hey, did your English class ever finish with <em>The Grapes of Wrath</em>?" Sam asked, a casual subject change.</p>
<p>Anna glanced at him without moving her head up. "Yes, thank <em>God</em>."</p>
<p>Sam smirked, "What, you didn't like it?"</p>
<p>"It was fine," she answered dryly. "Except that every other chapter was a two page metaphor, the entire thing is depressing as-" She stopped herself before she could curse, knowing that would turn this from a light-hearted conversation to become a scolding. "It's depressing, and we had to write about three hundred essays about it because it's my teacher's favorite book in the universe."</p>
<p>Sam grinned at her descriptions and took a sip of his own beer before asking, "What're you reading next?"</p>
<p>"Virginia Woolf," Anna answered, and her eyes lit up a little with excitement. "<em>To The Lighthouse</em>. Finally something <em>good</em>."</p>
<p>Sam nodded, "That's a good book. I read it at Stanford."</p>
<p>"Anything by Virginia Woolf is guaranteed to be awesome," she agreed wholeheartedly, then realized Sam had somehow managed to pull her out of a darkening mood. She decided to give this thing with Claire a shot for real, to try her best to help out, even if becoming besties with the girl turned out not to be the right move.</p>
<p>()()()</p>
<p>It was almost 2:30 on Sunday afternoon when they pulled up at Jody's, and the three of them were drowsy from the six hour drive. They'd started out around seven after a quick breakfast and stopped for lunch and gas around noon. They'd still made good time, though. They grabbed their duffels and went inside. Jody had told them she would be at the station and that they should go ahead and get settled in the guest room.</p>
<p>They all collapsed on different beds-- or in Anna's case, the couch-- and relaxed for a while. At around 4:00, they were all startled from light dozes or at least relaxed states by the sound of the front door opening and being carelessly slammed once more. Anna pulled her head up from where she'd been resting it against the armrest and tossed aside her phone.</p>
<p>"Somebody's home," she stated the obvious and sat up.</p>
<p>"Jody said she'd be working until six," Sam said. "And Alex' internship goes from two to ten."</p>
<p>"So, it's just Claire."</p>
<p>"Yep," Dean said, looking at her over the magazine he was reading. "What're you waitin' for?"</p>
<p>Anna sighed miserably but pushed herself up off the couch. At least she wouldn't have two witnesses when she awkwardly approached Claire. Sam and Dean seemed to be content staying in the guest room and waiting them out.</p>
<p>Stepping into the kitchen, Anna found Claire sitting at the kitchen table nursing a... beer?</p>
<p>"Neat trick," she quipped and settled across from her. "You do this every day while Jody's gone?"</p>
<p>Claire glared up at Anna for a second. "What do you care?"</p>
<p>"I don't," Anna decided aloud. "She doesn't notice they're gone?"</p>
<p>"She's got that blind spot. She doesn't want to think I would do it, so she doesn't suspect that I am."</p>
<p>Anna wasn't sure how she felt about the knowledge that Claire was taking advantage of that blind spot, but she had to admit there were times she took advantage of her brothers' cluelessness as well. Not often, and not proudly. But she occasionally would ditch classes because she knew she could get away with it and she'd even snuck into a bar one time. Of course, Dean caught her red-handed that time, so it didn't <em>really</em> count.</p>
<p>"Look, I was thinking," Anna started, hoping Claire would agree quickly and make her job that much easier. "As long as we're visiting, why don't you and I hang out sometime?"</p>
<p>Claire looked skeptically at her. "You don't even like me," she reminded Anna sharply.</p>
<p>"I do too," Anna answered immediately, maybe a little <em>too</em> quickly. "I just... I don't really know you that well. But the way I see it, we have a lot in common."</p>
<p>Claire scoffed at that, and Anna braced herself for a storm. "Right," came a voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yeah, no, we have <em>so much</em> in common. Your family is the best hunting duo on the planet Earth, Anna. Mine is dead."</p>
<p>"Claire, you know you have a family here. With Jody. Even with us." She swung her feet up to rest on one of the other chairs at the table and the purple lettering of her OSIRIS sneaker caught the light.</p>
<p>"Cool shoes," Claire commented, then flicked her eyes back to the beer on the table. She slid it across to Anna, and it seemed like an invitation, so Anna took a gulp and then slid the bottle back to Claire. Yes, if either of her brothers had been in the room to see that, they would have seriously disapproved. But they weren't there and they'd told her several times on the drive over to be extra nice to Claire and not to do anything that might make her feel less inclined to befriend Anna.</p>
<p>"I don't know any good places to hang out here," Anna said, trying to subtly circle back to her invitation a minute ago that they should spend time together. "There's this cafe in Lebanon that's usually my go-to, but Sioux Falls..."</p>
<p>"There's not much here," Claire interrupted, picking absentmindedly at the label on the beer bottle. "There's a club on Spring street, but no one really goes there."</p>
<p>"So, what do you <em>do</em> then?" Anna asked, hoping she didn't sound as rude as she felt she'd just been. "Sorry," she offered immediately.</p>
<p>"No, you're right," Claire said emphatically. "There's basically nothing. There's a trail in the woods outside of town, though, and I like to follow that sometimes when I get fed up with all this normal crap. I think it used to be some kind of biking path but people stopped using it years ago."</p>
<p>"That's cool," Anna agreed. "Does it lead anywhere?"</p>
<p>"I've never really followed it that far," Claire admitted. "I usually have better things to do with my time."</p>
<p>Anna wasn't quite sure how she felt about the way Claire said those last words. There was an inflection to her voice that hinted she <em>still</em> had better things to do than go trekking some forest path with the Winchester baby. "Claire, if you don't wanna hang out with me, that's fine," she said, careful not to sound hurt or even annoyed. "It's not like I'm hurtin' for some company. I just figured it'd be nice since we don't see each other very often."</p>
<p>It was difficult, shoving her pride down and playing nice despite that she felt insulted. Normally, the insinuation that she was desperate for a new friend would have had Anna turning on her heel and storming away to go hang out with somebody who <em>wanted</em> her company. But she'd been given a job, and she intended to do it.</p>
<p>The mission was to help Claire. Funny enough, though, it didn't seem to Anna that Claire was really acting any different than usual.</p>
<p>()()()</p>
<p>An hour later, both girls were laughing as they started back down the trail that led nowhere, exchanging stories.</p>
<p>"How are they so clueless?" Claire asked lightheartedly, still half-laughing.</p>
<p>"They're men," Anna said as if that were an answer. "And they are so squeamish about anything... feminine. The first time I started my period, I told Sam because I figured he would react more mildly than Dean. Instead he freaked out and <em>told</em> Dean. I'm sittin' there in a motel room, just trying to get one of them to give me the money for a pack of pads or tampons or <em>something</em>, and they're both fucking hyperventilating."</p>
<p>Claire smiled a little. "I guess it's not easy livin' with a couple of old guys, huh?"</p>
<p>"They're not <em>that</em> old," Anna defended mildly. "And I love 'em. But you're right. They can be pretty clueless." She paused and her expression changed from joyfully casual to become more saddened. "They try. They listen when I wanna talk about girl things, but... I guess I do sometimes wish I had a mother," she admitted, her voice softening. "Or a sister. It would be nice, you know, to have someone who understands without having to <em>explain</em> everything."</p>
<p>Claire was quiet for a minute and Anna realized she'd probably just made things awkward. "I used to think the same thing," Claire said, breaking the silence as both stopped walking. "Back when Castiel first found me. I thought it would be nice to have somebody to talk to about everything. Not just 'girl stuff' but <em>everything</em>. And then you guys brought me here and... and Jody's nice. She means well. But she's <em>not</em> my mother." There was that defiant, hurt tone coming through that was so distinctly <em>Claire</em>. Anna couldn't think of anything to say and so just stood listening. "Then there's Alex."</p>
<p>"What about Alex?" Anna asked when it seemed Claire was going to leave it at that.</p>
<p>"I don't know," Claire answered, then started walking again, forcing Anna to hurry to get beside her again. "I mean, I guess we're kinda like sisters. But I've never had a sister."</p>
<p>Anna shrugged at that. "You don't have to have a sister to know what one is like," she said simply. "Like... I- I had this friend once..." she swallowed and changed her mind. She couldn't talk about Charlie. Not yet. It had only been a few months. "Nevermind," she said thickly.</p>
<p>Claire didn't say anything, seeming to realize Anna had tapped into something painful. She was familiar with the feeling. "Hey, Anna," she said after a minute.</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"I'm sorry."</p>
<p>Anna frowned. "For what?"</p>
<p>"For being kind of a jerk to you. Not just today, but, most of the time."</p>
<p>"Oh. In that case, I'm sorry too."</p>
<p>It was quiet for a while as they walked in an almost companionable silence. As they neared the opening from the trail back into the park it started in, Anna grabbed Claire's arm. She felt like she hadn't gotten any of the information her brothers and Jody wanted. But she didn't really care. She felt closer to Claire, and that was kind of what they'd asked. Besides, she liked Claire more, understood her more now. She was glad she'd spent the last hour and half the way she had.</p>
<p>"Have you been hunting lately?" she asked, a topic that was always sure to get Claire talking.</p>
<p>Claire huffed, though. "I don't get the big deal they all make over it. I always make it back. And out there, I save people. Here, I'm just... I don't know who I am here." The admission was vulnerable in a way that Anna couldn't recall ever having seen Claire before. But the old Claire returned immediately as, with a light punch to Anna's shoulder, she said, "This doesn't mean we're friends, you know."</p>
<p>She gave Claire a sideways smile. "Hey, um, just so you know..." She cleared her throat, a nervous tic she'd picked up from Sam over the years. "I- I get it. Being half in and half out is weird as all hell. I mean sometimes Sam and Dean will drag me several states away during February Break to hunt a snow spirit in Maine or something and all week I'm stuck writing essays with what little spare time the hunt leaves me with. It's... inopportune," she said carefully.</p>
<p>She didn't know whether Claire was likely to pass any of this information on, but she had heard her rat Alex out for stuff now and again. She didn't want to take any chances that Claire might tell one of her brothers she didn't like hunting on school breaks. It wasn't entirely true, for one thing. What she didn't like was the schoolwork.</p>
<p>Sometimes she wanted to tell them that hunters should just be hunters instead of living with one foot in and one foot out. But she knew what they would do if she tried giving them an ultimatum. If she said hunting should be all or nothing, they would say <em>nothing</em>, and she had no desire to end up left behind any more often than she already was. Hell, she was already left wondering constantly whether they were even going to let her be a hunter with them once she graduated. The way they talked sometimes, saying no kid should be in this life and then looking wistfully at her...</p>
<p>"All I'm saying," she told Claire, "is that normal kinda sucks ass. And hunting kind of sucks ass sometimes too. Combine the two and life gets seriously complicated."</p>
<p>"Tell me about it," Claire snorted. "It's just hard to figure out who you are or who you're supposed to be or whatever when... when what you feel like you should be doing isn't what people expect of you."</p>
<p>Anna bit her lip as she contemplated the truth of that statement. A few weeks ago, Sam had made a passing remark at dinner about college applications. Anna had frozen for a moment but had proceeded to school her features in case he was gauging her reaction.</p>
<p>College, though, was one of the most terrifying words on the planet to her now. Were they going to send her away to a university in New England or California as soon as they had the chance? Were they tired of her being underfoot? Did they think she wasn't strong enough or smart enough to be a hunter and a member of Team Free Will? Were they simply looking for a way to protect her?</p>
<p>Regardless of the reason for Sam's remark about college, it had struck fear into Anna's heart. The thought of leaving the bunker and her family to pursue higher education was, well, unthinkable. It wasn't necessarily because she was afraid to be on her own. As unappealing as it sounded to live by herself-- well, away from her brothers but not <em>by herself</em>-- the real issue lay in the fact that she felt she was born to be a hunter. Her last name was Winchester and that meant she existed to save people.</p>
<p>"Trust me," Anna said with a lump in her throat. "I get that."</p>
<p>"It'll end next year, though. You know, I applied to a couple universities in October, mostly just because Jody wanted me to. But I know I'm not gonna go to one and it just makes everything about school feel so pointless."</p>
<p>"I know the feeling. I mean, I try at school but it's not really for me. It's more for Sam... and I guess for Dean but I don't even know if he really cares. You know, I wanted to drop out but they wouldn't let me."</p>
<p>"That sounds like them," Claire admitted. "Look, I know I just told you some gushy stuff. But this-"</p>
<p>"Doesn't mean we're friends," Anna finished for her and rolled her eyes. "I know."</p>
<p>()()()</p>
<p>It was dark by the time they got back to the house, but it was only about 7:30. They'd inadvertently spent several hours just hanging out. In town, Anna had asked if there was a mall, and Claire had shown her where it was and they'd wound up window shopping for nothing in particular for quite some time.</p>
<p>"Have you seen that vine, though?" Anna was asking Claire as she followed the older girl up the porch steps. "<em>Ryan</em>."</p>
<p>Claire laughed, "What about, <em>They were roommates.</em>"</p>
<p>"<em>Oh my god. They were roommates.</em>"</p>
<p>They were both laughing when they walked through the front door.</p>
<p>"Really, Claire?" Jody's voice caught them both by surprise and Anna looked up in total confusion. She'd never heard Jody speak with such an angry and parental tone before. "You can't answer your phone?"</p>
<p>Neither Sam nor Dean were present, but Anna figured that didn't mean anything good. It probably meant they were looking for them because three and a half hours without hearing from somebody generally meant nothing good in the world of hunters. Funny how she hadn't noticed any incoming texts or- Anna closed her eyes in a moment of dreadful realization. She was in for it too. She'd left her phone in their room when she left with Claire.</p>
<p>So not only had they been out without telling anyone where they were, but she hadn't had her phone on her, which was basically rule number one when any of the three of them was going out alone.</p>
<p>"I guess I didn't realize-"</p>
<p>"Realize what, young lady? That we were all waiting around for you two scared to death you'd been hurt or-"</p>
<p>"We weren't," Claire answered emphatically. "You don't have to be so overbearing all the time Jody. We were just hanging out."</p>
<p>"Overb-" Jody's face filled with rage, and Anna's with shock.</p>
<p>She didn't realize Claire had such a temper as to talk to her surrogate mother like that, when she was already in trouble no less. If she ever dared speak to Dean like that when he was already pissed at her for good reason... Anna cringed at the thought of how such a confrontation would go. She would probably end up locked in her room for the rest of her life. The GPS on her phone would be permanently turned on. She would get a daily lecture on respect for the rest of the month at least.</p>
<p>"Claire," Anna reprimanded softly. She didn't feel that she was in any position to disrupt this, but she did feel like she should voice her disapproval, just in case Claire somehow thought she needed to be rebellious because there was another teenager present.</p>
<p>"What? Princess Perfect is gonna lecture me now, too? We were gone for three hours," Claire said with attitude. "That's, like, not even half a day at school." She glared at Jody again. "You leave us there for seven hours a day, five days a week, and we don't call you every five minutes then, do we?"</p>
<p>Anna couldn't take it listening to Claire talk to Jody that way, and she grabbed the older girl's arm to get her attention. "Stop being such a spaz, Claire. She's just trying to-"</p>
<p>"What? Protect me? That's such bullshit. I'm so sick of hearing it. Everybody's excuse for everything is that it's just to <em>protect</em> me. I never asked to be <em>protected</em>."</p>
<p>"Nobody asks to be protected," Anna returned. "Family just does that."</p>
<p>"Yeah, some family," Claire said, thoughtless as to how painful the words would likely be for Jody to hear. "Ignore me when I tell you what I want and yell at me every time I move."</p>
<p>"That isn't fair, Claire," Jody pressed, her eyes brimming with tears neither teenager had seen coming. "But we can talk about that later. Why don't you cool off in your room?"</p>
<p>Claire looked a little regretful but mostly just angry as she stormed away toward her bedroom.</p>
<p>As soon as she was gone, Anna moved forward. "Jody, I'm sorry," she apologized, her voice brimming with sympathy. She was about to put an arm around her friend's shoulder but Jody pulled away, shaking her head as if Anna were being ridiculous.</p>
<p>"I'm fine," she said distinctly. "But you are in just as much trouble as Claire is, kiddo, so you might want to start thinking of ways to apologize for your <em>own</em> actions. And you can start by texting them to let them know you're both home."</p>
<p><em>Home</em> was in Kansas, Anna wanted to correct. But she didn't. Instead she mumbled, "Yes, ma'am," and ignored it when Jody said she didn't need to call her that. Sometimes she wondered what the point was in trying to be good all the time, always having your reasons knocked down and being made to give contrite answers. Anything less meant you didn't care. It wasn't true but it was a discouraging thought nonetheless.</p>
<p>Leaving the living room where Jody stayed, Anna headed for the guest room she and her family would be inhabiting for the weekend. When she saw the alarming number of text messages that each of her brothers had apparently sent before realizing she'd left her phone behind, she cringed and opted to call instead of texting.</p>
<p>Since Dean would be driving if they happened to be in the Impala, Anna dialed Sam. The first ring wasn't even halfway done before he picked up. "<em>Anna?</em>"</p>
<p>"Hey, sorry. We're- we're back. I guess I just forgot my phone."</p>
<p>She could hear the rumble of Dean's voice, probably asking Sam if it was her. She could just make out Sam saying, "<em>She's okay,</em>" as he was probably holding the phone away from his face while he answered their brother. "<em>You're at Jody's?</em>"</p>
<p>There was a small part of Anna that wanted to answer sarcastically. <em>Nah, I just used the force to get my phone and voluntarily tell you that I'm skipping the country.</em> Instead she forced down all hints of cynicism and answered much more sincerely. "Yeah. We're back."</p>
<p>"<em>Good</em>."</p>
<p>He hung up abruptly and Anna swallowed hard. She felt sick to her stomach. But it wasn't because she was in trouble. If she let them know that she really felt bad about it and that she would do better next time, then she would probably just get an earful, and maybe they'd remind her unnecessarily to take her phone with her for the next couple weeks every time she left. The lecture would be uncomfortable and the reminders would be annoying, but none of that was enough to make her feel sick.</p>
<p>What was making her stomach hurt was the knowledge of what was wrong with Claire. It had become abundantly clear to Anna that what was bothering her had nothing to do with Alex's new internship. It had much more to do with Jody. For some reason, Claire was harboring a grudge and it was making her act cruelly toward her caregiver. Not only did Claire's treatment of Jody rub Anna the wrong way, but the similarity Anna was beginning to see between her situation and Claire's... it was unnerving.</p>
<p>()()()</p>
<p>Jody fixed broccoli and cheddar soup for dinner. Anna thought anything with broccoli as a main component was bound to be terrible, but she tried it with an open mind and was surprised to find that the soup was delicious. She still ate slowly, though, because dinner was not exactly relaxed tonight.</p>
<p>Claire outright refused to come to the table until Dean caught sight of Jody's upset expression despite her best efforts to hide it and went to get the kid himself. It wasn't like he didn't know how to convince stubborn teenagers to do what they were supposed to do.</p>
<p>About five minutes into the meal, nobody had spoken, and Anna was starting to <em>wish</em> she'd been sent to bed without dinner-- a punishment that had literally never been used on her, but one that would have at least allowed her to avoid this awkwardness. But alas, she'd gotten a stern talking to and been forgiven. She was in the clear.</p>
<p>"So," Jody said from the head of the table, clearing her throat as if stalling for time so she could think of something to say. "How is everything in Kansas?"</p>
<p>Anna stared quietly at her food, knowing she wasn't the one expected to answer of the three of them.</p>
<p>"Great, Jody," Sam answered with forced cheer. "We're- Things are great."</p>
<p>Jody looked at Sam gratefully, but was clearly expecting more of an answer than that, something that could keep conversation going. "Anna," she addressed with a wide smile. "How's school?"</p>
<p>"Boring," Anna answered honestly, ignoring the sideways glare Sam gave her for that answer. She didn't see how it was rude to give the answer everybody expected from high school students. Who wants to talk about school when they're not at school?</p>
<p>Jody also appeared vaguely frustrated with Anna's answer, but because it was short, not because it wasn't super pleasant. "Claire," she said. "Why don't you tell Anna about the dance next weekend?"</p>
<p>Claire glanced at Jody without moving her head, then looked at Anna. "There's a dance next weekend," she said dryly, then went back to eating her dinner.</p>
<p>Anna tried to bite back her smile but couldn't quite manage and got an elbow to the side from Dean for her trouble. She sobered quickly when she saw the serious look on his face. Internally, it was annoying to her, though. If the rest of the evening hadn't gone so poorly and put all the adults in a bad mood, Dean would probably have had a similar reaction to Claire's smartass move.</p>
<p>"It's a semi-formal," Jody told Anna, forcing a pleasant expression. "And it's for spirit week. Lebanon High have anything like that coming up?"</p>
<p>Anna took pity on Jody and smiled kindly as she came to her rescue. "Spirit week is in November, but they do a dance at the end of the week then, and there's probably gonna be a dance before February break. You goin' Claire?"</p>
<p>The air at the table didn't seem quite so thick as she spoke, but once she passed the ball to Claire, that changed. She received a heated scowl from the eighteen year old that told her Claire wasn't interested in discussing the school dance. She backed off immediately, going back to her food in uncomfortable silence.</p>
<p>Dean's knee bumped hers under the table, and Anna took it for the comforting gesture it was meant to be.</p>
<p>"You know what's really interesting," Claire started.</p>
<p>When Anna lifted her eyes to her, she didn't like the strange way Claire was looking at her.</p>
<p>"We were talking earlier," Claire said with that dirty smile that meant she was about to stab Anna right in the back. "And-"</p>
<p>"Seriously?" Anna couldn't help but mutter to herself. She had no idea where this was about to go, but there were several things from their conversation earlier that had the potential to be twisted into something that wouldn't bode well for her. Namely everything she'd said about how weird it was being trapped in between two lives-- high school student and hunter.</p>
<p>"And I just think you both should know about all the psychological-"</p>
<p>Anna ground the heel of her OSIRIS sneaker into the toe of Claire's Converse until she visibly tensed in pain and quit speaking.</p>
<p>All three of the adults at the table looked suspiciously between Anna and Claire, who looked offended and irritated respectively.</p>
<p>"The psychological what?" Sam asked, nobody's fool as he saw the clear secrecy between his sister and their young family friend. When Claire just held Anna's eyes, Sam, Dean, and Jody all turned to the youngest Winchester for an answer.</p>
<p>"What are you waiting for, Princess?" Claire taunted in a hushed voice.</p>
<p>"You got a serious problem, Claire," Anna retorted, temper flaring.</p>
<p>"Hey." The reprimand from Dean was accompanied by a hand on her forearm as she stared accusingly at Claire across the table. Her brother's voice was surprisingly gentle, though, instead of tearing into her like she'd been expecting after such an outburst while they were guests at Jody's table.</p>
<p>Claire looked very dissatisfied with the way things had turned out. Beside her, Sam was watching her uncomfortably but also disapprovingly.</p>
<p>Anna thought maybe she should apologize, but she didn't really know just how and she didn't think she really wanted to. If they weren't going to make her then she wasn't going to do it. Maybe it was a shitty attitude, but she didn't care at the moment.</p>
<p>"The dance, Claire. Let's talk about the dance," Jody requested, gripping her wine glass tightly enough that Anna was mildly surprised it hadn't shattered in her hand yet.</p>
<p>Claire finally gave up, apparently understanding that she wasn't going to get Anna back by getting her into unwarranted trouble. "It's a semi-formal, and I'm not going."</p>
<p>"Why not?" Sam asked from beside her, managing to make his tone as light and casual as if the last few minutes hadn't happened. Anna was white-knuckling her spoon, though, as Dean took his hand away from her arm and went back to his own food.</p>
<p>Claire shot Sam a dangerous look that he pretended not to recognize. Anna was familiar with the tactic because he pulled the same move with her sometimes. It was basically just a refusal to let her dwell in a dark mood when she'd been offered an attempt at conversation.</p>
<p>"It's gonna suck ass," Claire answered shortly.</p>
<p>Jody set her glass down a little harder than necessary. "Anybody want dessert? I'll get it. Claire, help me."</p>
<p>All three Winchesters watched them leave for the kitchen, an identical eyebrow raised on each of their faces. "Well, Jody wasn't lying. She's definitely more ornery than usual," Dean grimaced and ate the last bit of soup out of his bowl.</p>
<p>"Yeah, and <em>you</em> need to watch your temper, Grumpy," Sam told Anna with a playful tap of his foot on hers under the table.</p>
<p>"Well, she <em>was</em> being a total-"</p>
<p>"I'd advise you not to finish that," Sam cut her off with a glower.</p>
<p>Anna resisted the urge to roll her eyes. But she obediently kept her mouth shut, instead quickly finishing the soup in front of her.</p>
<p>"Think Jody made pie?" Dean asked from beside her with childlike excitement that made his green eyes brighten.</p>
<p>Anna smirked in amusement despite herself and tucked her hands inside the sleeves of her sweater, arms moving around herself in a familiar habit.</p>
<p>"Okay, here we go," Jody said in a much lighter voice than Anna heard from her since they arrived this afternoon. She was, indeed, holding an apple pie, a small stack of paper plates balancing on top of it. "Claire's gone for a walk," she said when the question appeared in three sets of eyes. "Just to cool off a little." She started cutting into the pie, delivering generous slices to each Winchester in turn, and finally serving herself.</p>
<p>The four of them ate mostly in silence with the occasional emphatic compliment to Jody's baking skills. Eventually, though, Jody looked up, setting her fork down even though she hadn't finished her pie yet. "Look, Anna, if she was anything like that earlier, then I understand if you don't want to keep spending time with her."</p>
<p>Anna shook her head, finishing what was in her mouth before she spoke solely so she could avoid being chastised by Sam. "She was actually really nice earlier, Jody, when it was just the two of us." She squinted at her dessert. "And I think I know why she's being bitchy-- rude," she amended immediately upon seeing three disapproving scowls all directed at her. Jeez, two people constantly correcting her behavior was enough.</p>
<p>"Well, out with it," Jody instructed, gesturing with her hand for Anna to hurry up.</p>
<p>With an amused grin, Anna shifted in her chair so she was facing Jody more. "She's not upset about Alex. I mean, I guess it isn't exactly <em>helping</em>, but..." she trailed off then looked at Jody seriously but with sympathy. "She's mad at <em>you</em>, Jody."</p>
<p>Evidently, it was the very last thing Jody had been expecting to hear. Her eyes widened, then she frowned deeply and leaned back in her chair, reaching for her wine glass. It wasn't until after she'd drained what was left in it that she asked, "What makes you say that?"</p>
<p>Anna shrugged. "She's been pokin' at you all night."</p>
<p>"She's been 'poking at me' all week," Jody corrected. "That's how people deal with stress. They take it out on people it's safe to mistreat."</p>
<p>"Yeah, but that's not how <em>Claire</em> deals with stuff. She's more confrontational than that," Anna said simply and then went back to eating her pie. Jody was truly an excellent chef. "Besides, all through dinner, every time she said something deliberately mean, she would look right at you after, like she was gauging your reaction. She was trying to piss you off."</p>
<p>Sam and Dean exchanged looks of interest, then looked to Jody. "You sure about this, Rugrat?" Dean asked.</p>
<p>"Nope," Anna said honestly. "But I think," she grinned so widely and sincerely that it made Dean crack a smile. "What would she be mad at you about?"</p>
<p>Jody shook her head, looking upset enough at the prospect of being the reason for Claire's recent attitude that both Anna and Dean immediately stopped smiling. "I have no idea. I mean, I made her clean her room last week."</p>
<p>Anna rolled her eyes at that. Yes, sometimes teenagers would get angry over things that weren't worth the anger. But seriously? Claire would not act like a Grade A Jerk over having to clean her room.</p>
<p>"Okay, something tells me that ain't it," Dean said soothingly, reaching over to squeeze Jody's hand. She looked grateful for the gesture and smiled tightly at Dean.</p>
<p>"Maybe she said something earlier to indicate why she's upset?" Sam asked, looking at Anna now.</p>
<p>She shrugged. "I mean, she said she felt kinda lost here, but... that's it. And she wasn't exactly clear about everything."</p>
<p>"Yeah, that's Claire for you," Jody amended, folding her hands on the table in front of her. "Lost how?" she asked after a few seconds.</p>
<p>Anna swallowed as she remembered all the things she and Claire had discussed in the woods earlier. If she got into too much detail, she might reveal things neither she nor Claire wished to talk to any of these three about. "Just lost," she said like she knew nothing more. She caught the strange look that Dean gave her, but no one pressed for anything more.</p>
<p>()()()</p>
<p>"You know, if you need to head back to Lebanon tonight..."</p>
<p>"Jody, I told you, we're all set to stay until Sunday night. The kid can miss one day of school," Dean's voice, rumbling low as it always did in the morning, in conversation with Jody was the first thing Anna heard as she stumbled sleepily into the kitchen the following morning.</p>
<p>"I can miss all the school you want," Anna assured enthusiastically, bounding toward the coffee pot with a little more energy than before. Her hair was messily pulled into a low ponytail that rested over one shoulder and she was wearing flannel pajama pants and a long sleeved black v-neck.</p>
<p>"Yeah, keep dreaming, Rugrat."</p>
<p>"Someday you're gonna have to stop calling me that."</p>
<p>"Yeah, and that's what Sammy said."</p>
<p>Jody smiled lightheartedly as she observed their interaction.</p>
<p>"Sammy is derived from his <em>name</em>," Anna said while pouring herself a cup of coffee. "None of the shit you call me is."</p>
<p>"Well, it'd be kind of weird if I started calling <em>you</em> Sammy."</p>
<p>"Not what I meant, you idiot," she laughed.</p>
<p>"Watch it," Dean said, but he was smiling around his coffee cup as he settled into a chair at Jody's kitchen table. As Anna walked by him to sit across from him at the table, she leaned down to give him a kiss on the cheek.</p>
<p>Jody didn't fail to notice. They behaved very much like father and daughter without ever appearing to realize it, she thought. She would never say so aloud, because it could be a delicate thing to shatter, and because Anna behaved similarly around Sam. Jody had seen the love and loyalty that held together their small family frequently in a hundred different ways. Sometimes they acted just like bantering siblings, other times Dean was very clearly an acting parent to the both of them. Sometimes Sam would chastise Dean. Sometimes Anna would order the both of them around, which was, quite frankly, pretty entertaining.</p>
<p>It was there in the shoulder pats, the bumping of knees, the simplest looks that could reign in any of them when they were about to lose their temper. The three of them were inseparable and understood one another intricately because they knew of each other's highs and lows in life, of their failures and strengths. They accepted all of these things about one another and continued to fight for one another through all of it.</p>
<p>Maybe there was something in their Winchester DNA that just wouldn't let them give up on family. Maybe they just didn't know how to give up on one another. Regardless, it was obvious to any outside observer how much safer, more secure, and completely free they each felt in the company of the other two.</p>
<p>But now, Jody thought as she watched Anna stick her tongue out at her older brother, their dynamic was very much that of a healthy father and daughter relationship. Sam and Dean were brothers all the way, though it was always unmistakable that Dean was older. Sam and Anna often behaved more like siblings than she and Dean did, though, again, he wasn't afraid to correct her when she was behaving poorly or help her understand something when she felt lost.</p>
<p>Jody wondered how three siblings could fill so many necessary roles in each other's lives so flawlessly. How could someone simultaneously be a parent, brother, and best friend? Well, Dean had a lot of practice. Sam had some experience himself, and Anna didn't seem to think about it.</p>
<p>"Morning," Claire greeted, already fully dressed in ripped black jeans and a white graphic hoodie. She headed straight for the fridge and came out with a can of Monster.</p>
<p>"Good morning," Jody returned, considering the greeting an olive branch, or maybe a promising sign that Claire had never been angry with her and Anna was wrong. "Where's Alex?"</p>
<p>"Sleeping." She took a sip of Monster and looked to Jody again. "Goin' out. That okay?"</p>
<p>Jody frowned. "It's only nine. Where are you going?"</p>
<p>Claire pursed her lips. "Just for a walk," she said a little more stand-offishly.</p>
<p>Jody perceptably bit the inside of her lip at Claire's tone and then nodded. "I expect an answer if I call or text."</p>
<p>Surprisingly, Claire actually offered Jody a peaceable smile. "Sure."</p>
<p>"She doesn't seem so mad," Dean remarked, looking at the kitchen door Claire had gone through a second ago.</p>
<p>Anna shrugged. She suspected that Claire had just been trying to get Jody off her back and figured the best way was to play nice. Alternatively, though, Claire didn't <em>want</em> to be upset with Jody. Anna could think of about a hundred times she'd been pissed at her brothers without any nameable rhyme or reason and had seriously hated herself for it until the unexplainable feeling went away. She figured it was part of being a teenager to get angry with people when really it was just you.</p>
<p>"Hopefully not," Jody said and sat down beside Dean.</p>
<p>"Anna will talk to her again, Jody," Dean promised when he caught the still-worried look on the Sheriff's face.</p>
<p>Anna gave her brother a dirty look. "Why me? She's not jonesing for a friend, remember?"</p>
<p>Dean raised an eyebrow at her for being so candid and Anna did shrink back, suddenly fascinated by her coffee. "Long as you're off duty, Munchkin, you got any homework?"</p>
<p>Anna's shoulders dropped at the word <em>homework</em> and she wrinkled her nose in distaste. "You had to go and bring <em>that</em> up."</p>
<p>Dean smirked at her reaction and didn't say anything when she didn't get up straight away. It wouldn't hurt for her to finish a cup of coffee and get some breakfast first. "Hey, Jody, you seen Sam this morning? He was already gone when I woke up."</p>
<p>"Yeah, he was out here. Said something about a morning jog."</p>
<p>"Gag," Anna quipped and took a long drink of nice, hot coffee.</p>
<p>"Not a fan of jogging?"</p>
<p>"Who even does that?" was Anna's disgusted reply.</p>
<p>Jody smiled at her reaction and saw Dean was wearing a similar expression of disgust at Sam's morning routine. "I hope you two don't rag on him too much for that. It's a healthy habit."</p>
<p>"Did he pay you to say that?" Dean asked, joining the <em>tease Sammy </em>party.</p>
<p>Jody shook her head in amusement and stood up. "Any requests for breakfast?" she asked, pulling a frying pan out of a cupboard beneath the sink.</p>
<p>Anna shrugged and didn't say anything. She skipped breakfast most days because she never particularly felt like eating. Sam would get after her about it from time to time, trying to tell her she should be eating three meals a day and that breakfast was the last one she should even consider skipping because it was important in determining how the rest of her day would go... Blah Blah Blah.</p>
<p>"Not picky," Dean answered. "You want some help?"</p>
<p>"That's alright. I think I'll make some muffins, take a little me-time."</p>
<p>Dean made a playfully offended expression and looked over to Anna. "I do believe we've been kicked out," he said mirthfully.</p>
<p>Anna rolled her eyes at his antics and got up at the same time as he did so they could leave Jody to herself.</p>
<p>()()()</p>
<p>"I know you're here because of me."</p>
<p>Anna looked up from her laptop screen at the sound of Claire's voice and frowned. "What are you talking about?"</p>
<p>"Don't play dumb," Claire requested bitterly. "Jody called your giant brother because she thinks I'm pathetic and I need a friend."</p>
<p>"Claire-"</p>
<p>"And that's why you wanted to hang out yesterday."</p>
<p>Anna bit her lip. While Claire was being less than generous as to Jody's perspective on her, she wasn't so far off the mark on everything else. They really should have seen it coming. Claire was no idiot. She was self-sufficient, intelligent, and experienced in seeing through people's bullshit, a skill that she'd acquired simply to survive.</p>
<p>"Okay, so maybe we came here because Jody thought you needed someone to hang out with. But-" Anna added loudly before Claire could start raving. "She only thought so because of Alex's new job."</p>
<p>"What?" Claire's bafflement told Anna with absolute certainty that she'd been right in saying Alex wasn't the problem.</p>
<p>"I know," Anna smirked. "Adults always think they've got you pegged and they rarely do."</p>
<p>Claire tilted her head in acknowledgement of that statement, but she still looked disgruntled at best. "Alex and I are close, sure, but I haven't known her <em>that</em> long. And I know better than to get too attached."</p>
<p>Anna couldn't help but cringe a little at that statement. Sure, she had some abandonment issues herself, some issues with people around her constantly dying. That kind of thing tended to leave a mark. But Claire... Claire's own father had left her family for an angel, then done it again, and then her mother had abandoned her, only to die when Claire finally found her again. Castiel just kept swooping in and out of her life, terrified of hurting her and accidentally doing it more for that very reason. Jody was the one constant in her life.</p>
<p>Was it possible Claire was upset with her for that very reason? She was breaking the pattern, slowly taking down Claire's carefully crafted worldview block by block. If Jody could be good, could really and truly love her without obligation, then her belief that the world was full of assholes who didn't care about anyone other than themselves... had to be wrong.</p>
<p>The more Anna thought about it, the more she believed it.</p>
<p>Claire sat down on the couch beside her, surprising Anna. "I know I've been a jerk all week. Hell, I've been a jerk a lot longer than that, probably since I moved in."</p>
<p>"But normal is annoying," Anna prompted when Claire seemed to run out of things to say.</p>
<p>"It's so annoying. It just feels like she's asking me to pretend the rest of my life never happened. She wants me to go to dances and get As on tests and just be this normal, perfect kid. But I'm not a kid. I don't know how to be a kid."</p>
<p>Anna nodded along. It was an almost ubiquitous train of thought in her life. Maybe she and Claire had more in common than she'd initially appreciated. "I know the feeling," she said seriously, but Claire was the one struggling so she let Claire keep doing the talking.</p>
<p>"I guess I just get mad at her. Last night, she was trying so hard to make me talk about a dance I don't care about and I just... snapped, I guess."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I figured. They do the same thing to me, if it helps. And next year, you've got total control over what your life is gonna be."</p>
<p>"I know," Claire said like the words didn't help at all. "I keep telling myself that. But until I have that diploma in my hands, I'm trapped."</p>
<p>"Trapped is a strong word."</p>
<p>"Yeah. Maybe I'm not trapped. But I'm stuck pretending."</p>
<p>"Don't resent Jody for that, Claire." Anna sighed as she tried to think of a way to explain what seemed to be nagging at her as they talked. It came to her suddenly. "Maybe it's misplaced anger," she said out of the blue.</p>
<p>Claire looked at her with an unimpressed frown. "You're gonna psychoanalyze me now? Seriously? You're younger than me."</p>
<p>Anna shoved her laptop aside and crossed her arms at that. "Hear me out."</p>
<p>Claire rolled her eyes but she stayed quiet and Anna took that as her queue.</p>
<p>"Maybe it's like... obviously most of your life has sucked ass. Now you're finally in a safe and loving environment and it's... Now you have to deal with all the crap that's just kept coming for so long."</p>
<p>Therein lay the difference between her and Claire. Even through the shittiest moments of Anna's life, she'd had a family to come home to, a protective arm around her shoulders promising safety, a voice to guide her through growing up even when the apocalypse should have been more pressing than her bedtime or disrespect. She'd had a home even when the world was falling apart around her. Claire hadn't been so lucky.</p>
<p>"That actually doesn't sound like total bullshit," Claire admitted in a muttered voice. "Look, I'm gonna try and be better. I'm not saying I'm gonna have a bunch of therapy sessions in Jody's living room or that I'm gonna agree to be Marcia Brady or anything. I'm still a hunter. But I'm gonna be better to Jody. She doesn't deserve this."</p>
<p>"That's all anyone can ask," Anna agreed with a small smile. "Hey, Claire."</p>
<p>"What, Rapunzel?" Of course the nicknames would make a comeback as soon as the chick-flick moment was over.</p>
<p>"Okay, don't call me that," she started. "But I was wondering if maybe you wanted to... text sometimes. Like, if we need to rant about stuff nobody else is gonna understand. You're the only other person I know that's caught in this weird middle ground between normal and way-not-normal."</p>
<p>Claire pursed her lips and stared at Anna just long enough to make her feel self-conscious about what she'd asked. Then Claire's face split into a grin like Anna couldn't recall ever seeing on her face. But it had a teasing element to it. "So, what you're asking is, will I be your best friend?"</p>
<p>Anna immediately grew indignant and scoffed.</p>
<p>"I'm joking," Claire informed her, still laughing at her reaction. "I actually don't think that would be terrible," she allowed. "Do you have my number?"</p>
<p>Anna shrugged and opened her phone to check her contacts. Sam and Dean were literally constantly adding numbers to her phone-- different hunters they met up with as well as new phones they bought. They all knew each other's passcode and as far as Anna knew, none of them had ever abused that privilege and looked through their siblings' phones.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I have you," she said, leaning over to show Claire the number.</p>
<p>"Cool," Claire answered with a slightly awkward nod. "Well, since they think it's therapeutic, do you wanna ditch the schoolwork like a not-so-perfect-little-princess?"</p>
<p>Anna wasn't sure she appreciated the nicknames but it was all Claire, so she just shrugged and said, "Sure. Not like I was making any progress anyway." Actually, she'd managed to write three pages of a five page essay all in the last hour and a half and she'd been in such a nice groove that she probably would have finished it within the next hour if she kept going. But Claire was <em>offering</em> to hang out, to be friends. It was an olive branch Anna wouldn't turn down.</p>
<p>Maybe Claire needed a friend. Maybe Anna did. Maybe neither of them did. But their personalities, their histories, and, most completely, their current circumstances aligned just right for them to be friends who could understand each other and talk openly with one another. The two of them had been just similar enough to believe they were opposites, like Sam and John Winchester but to a lesser degree.</p>
<p>"Hey, do you like Fall Out Boy?" Anna asked curiously as she followed Claire out of the room into the hallway.</p>
<p>"Paramore is better."</p>
<p>Anna stared, offended, after Claire. She was a Paramore fan too but... Fall Out Boy was basically her spirit animal. <em>Dance Dance</em> was her anthem. Their music was the soundtrack to her life, playing in the background whether she was doing homework, research, baking cookies or pie, or doing absolutely nothing of importance.</p>
<p>But Claire liked Paramore and somehow that made perfect sense. It made such perfect sense, the thought of Claire singing along to <em>For a Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic</em>, that instead of arguing her point, Anna just grinned.</p>
<p>They didn't have to be similar in everything. They just had this one shared experience of being tugged back and forth, of being constantly told what was good for them, of simultaneously being treated like an adult and a child. And that was enough to blossom a friendship.</p>
<p>Friends at school in Lebanon-- namely Kate-- were friends with whom she could enjoy music, shopping, and cups of coffee on a regular basis. Claire was going to be somebody she could go to with serious life shit that nobody, even Kate, would understand. In return, she would be able to help Claire with some serious life shit, or so she hoped.</p>
<p>Anna and Kate had hit it off in an instant when they met in Wisconsin before either of them moved to Lebanon. Kate had instantly become her go-to friend for everything. She would text her about cases that hit her hard, about her brothers pissing her off or bossing her around, about her fears and her grief. Kate, in turn, would complain to Anna about school, her parents, her little brother, her own stress and fear. But, while Kate had learned about the supernatural that fateful week in Wisconsin when the Winchesters saved her from a freshly turned werewolf with an interest in her family, she didn't know anything about living deadcenter in the hunting world. She listened but she didn't understand.</p>
<p>Anna and Claire had not hit it off quickly. They'd pretty much hated each other from the minute they met. But, hey, not-so-fast friends were sometimes the best friends. Relationships that build slowly can sometimes be stronger for it. Anna loved Kate like a sister, but it was nice to know she now had someone who would actually <em>get it</em> when she wanted to rant about being constantly left behind when Sam and Dean went hunting, being protected in a million ways even when she was finally allowed in the field with them, or being pushed to do more school activities than she wanted to simply because she had the opportunity and <em>needed to socialize more</em>.</p>
<p>"If you don't like Fall Out Boy," she began as they passed Sam, Dean, and Jody in the living room on their way toward the front door. "Then how are we gonna pick a playlist?"</p>
<p>"Easy, we listen to what I like because I'm older and I have a bluetooth speaker."</p>
<p>"Not cool," Anna said and closed the door carefully behind her.</p>
<p>
  <em>La Fin</em>
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